In this book, Conflicted, Ian Leslie draws essential lessons on how to disagree well from world-class experts: interrogators, hostage negotiators, divorce mediators, diplomats, and addiction counselors. It tells inspiring stories of productive disagreements, from the invention of the airplane to the success of The Rolling Stones, and combines them with fascinating insights from the science … Continue reading Conflicted: Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together by Ian Leslie (2021)
Conflicted | Ian Leslie and Russ Roberts Ian Leslie talks about his book Conflicted with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Ian argues that far from being a negative thing, conflict is often the essential ingredient that helps us get to the right answer or best solution. Because some of our best thinking comes in collaboration with … Continue reading Ian Leslie on Conflicted Ian Leslie (2021)
We don’t have a good word for engaging in a non-hostile disagreement with the shared aim of moving the participants towards a new understanding, better decision or new idea. Debate implies a competition with winners and losers. Argument comes tinged with animosity. Dialogue is too bland. Dialectic is too obscure. We talk about argument as … Continue reading We Don’t Have a Good Word for Engaging in a Non-hostile Disagreement Ian Leslie
In this book, Curious, Ian Leslie makes a passionate case for the cultivation of our “desire to know.” Drawing on fascinating research from psychology, economics, education, and business, Ian looks at what feeds curiosity and what starves it and finds surprising answers. Curiosity is a mental muscle that atrophies without regular exercise and a habit … Continue reading Curious: the Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends on It by Ian Leslie (2014)
Productive disagreement depends on how people feel about each other. We spend a lot of time thinking about how to argue, and not enough on how to shape the relationship that will define how the engagement goes. It’s often said that in order to disagree well, people need to put emotions aside and think purely … Continue reading Productive Disagreement Depends on How People Feel About Each Other Ian Leslie
